


shout into the night

by minty (fulmiinata)



Category: Free!
Genre: Coffeeshop AU, Endless fluff, Fluff, Love at First Sight, M/M, New Year's Eve, it technically counts, like it's too much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-01
Updated: 2014-01-01
Packaged: 2018-01-06 17:24:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1109527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fulmiinata/pseuds/minty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"And when a temple bell starts to ring, Rin grabs Makoto by the collar and kisses him full on the mouth."</p>
            </blockquote>





	shout into the night

**Author's Note:**

> **track no. 1** shot at the night | the killers

Makoto works on New Year’s Eve.

The idea isn’t particularly appealing at all, but it’s not like he was really planning on doing anything special anyways. His family lives at least four hours away and Makoto is kidding himself if he thinks the weather is going to let him drive that distance peacefully, plus all of his friends from school are either on vacation somewhere a lot warmer, or getting drunk with their own families.

He still can’t help but groan when he wakes up on Tuesday morning at seven am. The day is clear outside Makoto’s window, all blue sky and white early sunshine, but the second his eyes drift down towards the street he can already see the stubborn frost that has made itself comfortable on his car’s windshield.

With sleep-heavy eyes Makoto puts on his last clean black T-shirt of the year, taking note of the slight snugness across his chest and the fading of the coffee shop’s logo on the right sleeve. He willingly slips into a pair of jeans that are old and also faded, torn on one knee while fraying on the other, because today is going to be a long day and he’s going to spend it comfortably, professionalism be damned.

Makoto’s breath puffs out in clouds of white as he scrapes ice off his windshield, and continues to do so as he sits inside, while the old vehicle makes its best attempt at heating up. The bitter December cold pierces through his (admittedly, not very warm) coat and gloves, making Makoto’s teeth chatter loudly inside his skull.

_“Good morning, all! And what a lovely morning it is—New Year’s Eve! The last night of the old year, the last night of the old you! Make it memorable by—”_

_“—you the hottest bitch in this place—”_

_“—to find our way home, to break in these bones—”_

_“—mabushii hikari surudoku me wo somukeru…”_

Makoto would much rather just plug his iPod into the car, but seeing as how the car is too old for that kind of thing, he settles for the last radio station he'd switched to, quietly humming along.

His phone buzzes in his pocket, most likely with a text. Against his better judgement, Makoto takes it out to see. Nagisa has just texted him, rambling about someone that has just walked into the shop who is, in the blonde's words, "absolutely dreamy." A smile tugs at the corners of Makoto's lips; Nagisa has always been the kind of kid to fall hard and fast and today is really no different. The younger man's attitude is refreshing to Makoto, since his bubbly cheerfulness and ability to see the best in anyone, anything, or any situation is a nice break from the pessimism of other people his age.

Makoto looks up after typing his reply, just in time to slam the brakes in front of a crosswalk and narrowly avoiding hitting someone. The front of his car still bumps into the person's hip and his head snaps to the side, hand ready to slam into the car. A glance through the windshield stops him, however, and the person can't help but do a double take. He blinks red eyes at Makoto, who mouths "Sorry!" at him, and then his face breaks into a wide toothy smile. He waves at Makoto in a gesture that expresses forgiveness, and keeps walking across the street.

Just the way he walks, the sway in his hips and the image of his hands in his pockets is enough to keep Makoto's eyes on him the whole time.

Someone behind him honks loudly.

Makoto yelps, nearly hits his head on the ceiling, and accidentally speeds across the crosswalk.

 

* * *

 

"You're late, Mako-chan!" chirps Nagisa the second Makoto clocks in. He has his hands on his hips, one finger pointing at the brunette accusingly.

"Only by two minutes," Makoto replies, eyes trained on the clock hanging just above the back door. It reads seven thirty-two, and Makoto's shift was supposed to start at seven thirty today. "Traffic was a little slow today."  He takes a green apron off the hook labeled "Makoto" and slips it over his head, tying it securely at the small of his back.

Clipping his name tag to his chest, Makoto walks out to the front counter through the teeny little kitchen.

“Whoops, sorry!” he says, after bumping into one of the other baristas, Haruka. An art student, Haru’s usually quiet and has a focused look about his face most of the time. He and Makoto are good friends, and his latte art is something to be envious of. “Didn’t watch where I was going.”

Haru raises an eyebrow, but he doesn’t look mad. Instead he shakes his head and pokes Makoto in the chest. “You’re late, baka.”

“So I’ve been told. It was _two minutes._ And last time I checked, you came in at least half an hour late yesterday, Haru _-chan.”_

“Maybe, but last time I checked, this place was called Cafe Haruka. I own it. And don’t call me that.”

“Your parents own it, and you aren’t the one who is literally going to work into tomorrow, since you “coincidentally” get off at four.” Makoto says matter-of-factly, and he has that expression he uses when his siblings are being self-righteous.

Eyes narrowed, Haru pokes Makoto again. “Shut up. I was going to tell you it’s too bad that you work so long, but I changed my mind.” He leaves to start wiping down the counter.

Makoto tries to convince himself that working an eighteen hour day is completely necessary and that his day off tomorrow more than makes up for it. Besides, if he gets paid by the hour, then it really isn’t that bad.

 

* * *

 

Over the course of the day, that is something that Makoto ends up repeating to himself again and again. _How bad can it get? It isn't_ so _bad. Could be worse._

He gets to the point where the day is incredibly busy and only getting busier but the work is so mundane he feels like he's on autopilot. Every order, from the small drip coffee to the large hot decaf triple five-pump vanilla non-fat no foam whipped cream extra hot extra caramel upside down caramel macchiato (which someone ordered _three_ of), is done almost mechanically. More than once Makoto can’t help the groans that escape his lips whenever a new group of customers walks in.

It's around nine thirty p.m. that Makoto volunteers to go into the back to do basic cleaning — things like sweeping the floor and taking out the trash. He just really needs a change of pace, and his day is more than halfway over, just four more hours to go—

“Makoto. We need you back up front.” Haru tells him. He actually ended up feeling bad enough to stay past his regular shift and accompany Makoto, saying something along the lines of “It’s meaningless to spend the holiday alone.” His parents wouldn’t be flying in from the States until early in the morning, so he didn’t really have anything else to do.

Sighing, Makoto hands over the broom he’d been holding and walks back out, eyelids drooping with exhaustion. The cafe isn’t quite as full as it had been a couple of hours ago, but it isn’t as empty as Makoto would like it to be. He’s in the middle of doing everything in his power to keep himself awake and prevent his head from slamming into the counter when the bells above the entrance tinkle with someone’s arrival.

Makoto suddenly finds himself more awake than before.

It’s a small group of people, a trio, all redheaded and nice to look at, but only one of them really catches Makoto’s attention. The brunette recognizes him as the person he had the pleasure of almost running over in the morning — there’s the same wine-red hair and eyes of a slightly lighter shade, and he even has his hands shoved into his pockets like before.

“Can I get a sledgehammer?” he asks, eyes trained on the menu behind Makoto.

“A w-what?” sputters Makoto, before remembering that ‘sledgehammer” is the same thing as a “shot in the dark” — drip coffee with a shot of espresso. It isn’t something that’s hard to remember, since they’re just regional terms, but Makoto is either too distracted by lack of rest of by the stunning person in front of him.

He giggles nervously. “S-sorry, I-I’m really tired right now and m-my brain isn’t… working very well.” _Because I have been here for more than half the day and wow you are really good-looking it’s making it hard to say words right can I get your number—_

“Huh?” The person’s eyes snap back to Makoto. “Yeah, I’m pretty tired too, hence the coffee at ten p.m…” he trails off, giving Makoto a thorough once-over that makes the taller man’s heart flutter.

“You look familiar. And, uh,” A smile that makes Makoto go a little weak at the knees pulls at his lips. “You’re kind of cute.”

Heat explodes in Makoto’s cheeks and spreads all the way down to his collarbones. He forces himself to swallow and offers a shy smile. “Th-thank you! Y-you’re nottoobadyourself.” he squeaks, his last few words tumbling out and tangling together.

The stranger’s smile gets impossibly bigger. He adjusts the black beanie resting on his head. “So, your name’s Makoto?” He squints a little at Makoto’s name tag.

The brunette nods, heart pounding at the way his name is said.

“Cool. I’m Rin.” he says, and holds his hand out for Makoto to shake. “You get off anytime soon?”

Immediately Makoto’s heart drops into his stomach like a stone, since there’s no way Rin is going to wait until one-thirty for him to finish his shift. It’s such a huge shame, because Rin seems really cool and wow Makoto can’t get over just how much of a _looker_ he is and he actually thinks he’s cute wow and he even wanted to ask him out wow wow wow wow _wow._

He fails to notice that Haru has been watching their interaction from a few feet away, amused.

“I actually have to leave—”

Haru swoops in, out of nowhere for the other two, holding a cleaning rag. “Right now. Makoto gets to leave right now.”

“H-Haru?!” Makoto’s mouth falls open at his friend’s statement, because wasn’t this the person who previously felt no sympathy for him and his absolutely ridiculous work day?

Of course, Haru leaves no room for argument, as he gives Makoto a look that says, “You better take this opportunity opportunity or so help me I’m taking it back,” and knowing Haru he absolutely would.

“Er, yeah, I guess I leave right now,” chuckles the brunette after getting a good grip on himself. He pulls the knot of his apron loose, slipping it over his head and leaving it in Haru’s hands so he can go retrieve his coat from the back room.

He can hear two cries of “Matsuoka! Hurry it up!” and “Are you ever going to get your coffee, Oniichan?” as he walks back out from behind the counter buttoning his coat. They come from the other two redheads that had walked in with Rin, one a tall, muscular man with his arm around the waist of a very petite woman who had the same eyes as Rin.

“Would you guys shut up?” Rin retorts. “I was nabbing a date, if you don’t mind.” His face breaks into a smile at the sight of Makoto’s return, and he nods toward the door.

“Let’s go?”

Makoto also nods, in reply, and as they walk out the door together he notices that Rin doesn’t seem to care that he never got his drink.

 

* * *

 

It’s still as cold, if not colder, than it was in the morning. Makoto’s teeth chatter again, hands growing numb in his pockets. His body gives an involuntary shudder.

“You okay?” Rin looks concerned as he asks. Makoto nods, tells him he’s fine, but the redhead looks skeptical and starts to unwrap the scarf around his neck.

“You don’t have to do that,” Makoto tells him. Troubling people is always something he hates doing, and Rin might get cold if he gives Makoto his scarf.

“I want to.” is all Rin says in reply, draping the scarf around the taller male and inducing a blush.

On Rin’s other side are Gou and Seijuurou, his sister and friend respectively. They’re chatting up a storm about something that Makoto isn’t totally paying attention to, because he and Rin are quietly having their own conversation.

“So you want to be a teacher?”

Makoto is touching the soft flannel of the black scarf as he replies. “Kindergarten. I really like being around kids.”

Folding his hands behind his head Rin says, “That’s pretty cool,” his breath making white clouds in the air. “I’ve been going to school to get a degree in Physical Therapy, but I’m mostly aiming to go to the Olympics in 2016.”

“The Olympics?” Such a big goal impresses Makoto. He’s never been really good at any kind of sport. “For what?”

“Swimming.” At the simple statement Rin’s eyes light up with passion that Makoto wishes he possessed. It’s a look not unlike the one Nagisa sometimes gives strawberry ice cream. “My dad’s the one who… who really got me into it. I even got to attend college on a swimming scholarship.”

The familiar pull of a smile is at the corner’s of Makoto’s lips. “He must be really proud of you.”

“…Yeah.” says Rin, so quietly it might’ve gotten lost in the wind. Suddenly, he grabs Makoto’s hand. “We’re gonna go somewhere, by ourselves.” he tells Gou and Seijuurou, who smile and give each other a knowing look.

“We’ll meet you at the temple around midnight.” They tell him.

 

* * *

 

“What are we doing here?” Rin and Makoto are at a cemetery, where small lanterns hang on trees. Being a lifelong scaredy cat, cemeteries have never been Makoto’s destination of choice.

Rin is still holding Makoto’s hand, tugging him forward. “Visiting someone.”

Eventually they stop in front of a well-kept grave, but it’s so old that the inscription on the side has faded to the point where Makoto can’t make it out in the dim light the lanterns are offering. He still bows his head when Rin does, murmuring a basic prayer his mom taught him in respect.

“Happy New Year,” he hears Rin whisper, in a serious, bittersweet tone that is very different from the Rin Makoto met maybe an hour ago. "Dad.”

Makoto smiles, softly. He doesn't say anything, partly because he doesn't really know what to say, and partly because he wants to preserve the moment. So he settles for smiling and admiring Rin's profile, but has to stop when the redhead catches him out of the corner of his eye.

"Like what you see?" he chuckles, and swipes away something from his cheek. "We should get going, or else I'm gonna start crying and I can't do that in front of you."

"You can," Makoto says almost automatically. He isn't really qualified to judge someone by how much they cry, plus he can count the people he has yet to see tear up in front of him on one hand.

Rin doesn't reply except for another smile, which they've both done so much lately that Makoto's pretty sure it's going to leave wrinkles.

"This hasn't been much of a date, especially not for New Year's. What do you say I treat you to sushi?"  

"Sushi? It's," Makoto checks the clock on his phone. "Ten fifty-two. A little late to eat, no?"

"Either that or I take you to get coffee."

At the mere mention of the word coffee, sushi suddenly sounds like the best idea ever.

 

* * *

 

“It’s hot in here.” Rin unzips his jacket and shrugs it off, draping it over the seat next to him. Without it covering his arms Makoto can see the tattoo sleeve on his right and even though tattoos have never been Makoto’s thing, that is a _nice sleeve_ Rin’s got going. It’s done in blue ink, a shark and even a ship mixed in the beautiful swirling waves that extend to about halfway down his forearm.

“Wow,” he finds himself murmuring. Rin smirks, following Makoto’s line of sight to his arm.

“You like my tats? I’ve got a couple more.” He shows Makoto his left arm, palm facing Rin’s direction, to showcase the bold script on the outside of his forearm. _A sight you’ve never seen before,_ it says. “Got this one on a trip to Australia after high school. Something I used to say a lot, when people underestimated me. I’d tell them, “I’ll show you a sight you’ve never seen before.””

Every drop of ink of Rin’s skin is fascinating to Makoto. Rin shows him the cherry blossom on the inside of his arm, his very first tattoo, which he’d gotten on his seventeenth birthday as a tribute to his mom. He tells Makoto about how long it took to complete the sleeve, the newest addition to the art gallery on his body.

Taking has always been something that comes easily to Makoto, and it seems to come easy for Rin as well, because their conversation moves on to different subjects, flowing easily from their mouths. They learn things about each other — Makoto learns that Rin likes the color black, any kind of meat, and rock music; Rin learns that Makoto would eat something chocolate every day if he could, he owns a lot of shoes, and that he’ll listen to any kind of music.

Almost unnoticed, sushi passes by the pair on conveyor belts, waiting to be taken off and eaten.

“Shit,” says Rin when takes a glance at his watch. “It’s already a quarter to midnight.”

They split the bill, even though there’s not a whole lot to split, and leave the sushi place holding hands.

 

* * *

 

“Nice of you to show up,” Gou teases, holding on to Seijuurou’s arm. “We thought you got lost or something.”

“We thought you got lost or something,” Rin imitates in a frightening falsetto before sticking his tongue out at his sister.

A happy feeling settles into Makoto’s stomach at their interaction. It’s similar to how Ren and Ran fight, and reminds him just how much it sucks he couldn’t see them this year. Between school, the dismal weather and his terrible car, a visit just wasn’t in the cards for him this time around.

“Hey you two, we should get in line before it gets too long,” Seijuurou points to the temple stairs, which are already filling up with people.

The wait to pray isn’t too long, though, and when they’re done Rin announces that he and Makoto are going somewhere else alone again, prompting the other two to snicker. They are ignored as Rin takes Makoto’s hand, a gesture that seems so natural now, like their hands fit together perfectly and they’ve known each other forever.

“Where are you whisking me away to this time?” Makoto asks, mirth in his tone and a smile on his lips.

“Somewhere really special.” Rin winks at him.

‘Somewhere really special’ ends up being a cliff not far from the temple, overlooking the ocean. There are trees all around, obscuring them and making it feel like they are the only two in the world. It’s still bitterly cold, but Rin and Makoto stand so close together they hardly even notice.

“My dad used to bring me here on New Year’s,” Rin tells him, and he looks excited, like something magic might just appear. “He started doing it when he was a teenager, as a tradition. It’s always been my favorite part of the holiday.”

He steps away from Makoto, his warmth immediately missed, and walks right up to the edge, cups his hands around his mouth, and yells. He yells something about treating everyone like crap, about being selfish, about following his own dream. It’s too loud and it echoes too much for Makoto to make anything specific out of it, but he knows that all the shouting is worth something when Rin turns to face him with a proud look on his face.

Rubbing his hands together for warmth, he explains the ritual.

“We’d come up here before midnight, and yell out whatever it was that weighed us down over the year, to get it off our chests and start the new year lighter. It… it helps a lot, especially since this hasn’t been a year I’d win a Nicest Person award for. You can try it, if you want.”

The look on Rin’s face suggests that he really only offered to be polite and he doesn’t really expect Makoto to participate, but Makoto decides that yeah, he’s going to try it. There’s quite a bit he’d like to get off his chest.

Standing on the edge alone is enough to make him feel better, and he can only imagine what it’ll be like after he gets a few things off his chest. Makoto rubs his hands together as well, blows on them either for warmth or good luck and then cups them around his own mouth.

He shouts into the night for a long time, expressing the feelings he’s kept inside and feeling lighter than he has ever felt before. When he finishes, and takes a deep breath, it’s like coming up for air after being held underwater for the first time.

Fireworks light up the sky as Makoto steps back, turns around to face a smiling Rin. He congratulates the brunette on a job well done, and when a temple bell starts to ring, grabs Makoto by the collar and kisses him full on the mouth.

Makoto finds himself smiling into the kiss and thinks,

_It’s going to be a good year._

  


**Author's Note:**

> gosh i love makorin and "shot at the night". i recommend you guys listen to it if you're looking for a good time. the title is derived from the song's, but i'm sure you know why it's different. 
> 
> but anyways happy new year (who cares that it's way past midnight)
> 
> hopefully your 2014 will be just as good or even better than 2013 <3
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> psst bonus points to whoever can guess at least one of the songs from the beginning


End file.
